Police arrest 9 over collapse of Icelandic bank

[March 09, 2011]  LONDON (AP) -- Police have arrested nine people in London and Iceland on suspicion of fraud in connection with the collapse of Iceland's Kaupthing bank during the global financial crisis in 2008.

Britain's Serious Fraud Office said seven men aged between 42 and 54 were held in raids Wednesday on two businesses and eight homes in London. The properties were being searched and the suspects questioned at police stations in the city.

The Financial Times newspaper reported that two of Britain's best-known entrepreneurs, Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz, were among those arrested, and their investment firm Rotch Property searched.

Staff there declined to comment Wednesday.

Police said two men, aged 42 and 43, were arrested in the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik.

Iceland's economy imploded when Kaupthing and the other major banks collapsed under the weight of huge debt in the early days of the world financial crisis.

Prosecutors have already made several arrests in Iceland as they investigate suspected market manipulation and fraud in the run-up to the banking crash.

[Associated Press]

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